The former US president's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a forthright discussion. This comes claims of bias at the network.
White House Official Condemns BBC Reporting
The White House official, a high-ranking figure in the Trump administration, remarked that watching BBC news reports during visits to the UK "spoils" her day. She claimed that the public are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Altered Speech
Leavitt's comments emerged after lawmakers said the broadcaster had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a public address by the US president was modified in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A report leaked to a newspaper indicated that an installment of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by splicing two segments of the oration together.
The programme showed the leader saying he would march with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the riots on 6 January 2021, urging them to "fight like hell". Nevertheless, it omitted a section of the speech where he advised the crowd "to express views calmly and loyally".
“This purposefully dishonest, selectively edited clip by the BBC is further evidence that they are total, 100% fake news that should no longer be worth the time on the television screens of the great people of the United Kingdom.”
The press secretary continued: "Whenever I travel to the United Kingdom with President Trump and am forced to watch the BBC in our hotel rooms, it ruins my day listening to their overt propaganda and lies about the president of the United States and all that he’s doing to make America better and the world a safer place."
Disclosed Document Highlights Production Issues
The publication said its coverage was based on a memo authored by a former consultant to the BBC's content standards board. The expert departed his position recently and has not spoken on the document, understood to have been revealed by a whistleblower.
An extract published stated: "It was completely misleading to edit the clip in the way Panorama aired it. The fact that he did not explicitly exhort supporters to go down and fight at Capitol Hill was one of the reasons there were no federal charges for incitement to riot."
Allegations of Widespread Problems
The memo allegedly noted that the former adviser had raised concerns about how BBC Arabic reported on the war in Gaza.
The newspaper said the author asserted there were "institutional issues", which had not been addressed by top executives. He reportedly cited "clear disparities" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC site.
One matter highlighted was the frequent use of analysts who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.
Criticism of Transgender Topics Coverage
The lengthy file is also reported to have faulted the BBC's handling of transgender issues, saying the network had been "captured by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of gender identity issues and that its LGBT desk would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have claimed that stories posing complex questions about trans issues were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate fairness or impartiality".
The Broadcaster Response
In answer, the BBC said: "Although we refrain from discussing disclosed papers, the BBC treats all input earnestly and reviews it thoroughly."
"The former adviser is a former adviser to a board committee where differing views and opinions of our coverage are routinely discussed and debated.|The ex-consultant previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."
